World marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum, 24, dies in a car crash in Kenya as Seb Coe leads the tributes after ‘devastating loss’ of Olympic gold medal favourite
Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, 24, has died aged 24 in Kenya
By DAVID COVERDALE
THE MAILONLINE NEWS
11 February 2024
He made history in October when he ran 2:00.35 to win the Chicago Marathon
Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum has died at the age of 24 following a car crash in his native Kenya.
His coach, Rwanda’s Gervais Hakizimana, was also killed in the road accident near Kaptagat, an area in the south-west of the country renowned as a training base for distance runners.
Kiptum made history in October when he clocked 2:00.35 to win the Chicago Marathon, smashing his fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by 34 seconds. His landmark time was only officially ratified by World Athletics last Tuesday.
World Athletics president Seb Coe led the tributes to Kiptum on Sunday night, saying he was ‘an incredible athlete leaving an incredible legacy’.
He wrote on X: ‘We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the devastating loss of Kelvin Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakizimana.
Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum has died at the age of 24
ලෝක මැරතන් ශූරයා මෝටර් රථ අනතුරකින් මරුට
ADA DERANA LK NEWS
February 12, 2024
මැරතන් ලෝක වාර්තාව හිමිකරගෙන සිටි කෙන්යාවේ කෙල්වින් කිප්ටම් මෝටර් රථ අනතුරකින් ජීවිතක්ෂයට පත්වී තිබේ.
ජාත්‍යන්තර මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා සඳහන් කරන්නේ කෙන්යාවේ සිදුවූ අනතුරකින් ඔහු ජීවිතයෙන් සමුගෙන ඇති බවයි.
ඔහුගේ පුහුණුකරු ලෙස කටයුතු කළ රුවන්ඩාවේ Gervais Hakizimana ඊයේ සිදුවූ එම අනතුරින් මියගොස් තිබුණි.
කිප්ටම්, ලොව මෙතෙක් බිහිවූ සුපිරිතම මැරතන් ධාවකයෙක් ලෙස සැලකෙයි.
2023 ඔක්තෝබර් මාසයේදී චිකාගෝ මැරතන් තරගය පැය 2යි තත්පර 35කින් නිම කිරීමට ඔහු සමත් විය.